New Sci-Fi Movies

To the Edge of the Universe: Great New Sci-Fi Films

(09/09/2019)

The beauty of science fiction is that the genre can tell a wide variety of stories. Sci-fi is a huge umbrella that covers thoughtful tales about our place in the universe, and fast-paced action-adventures full of killer robots and mystic powers. It's a way to go to entirely new worlds through bold storytelling. Fortunately, new movies are coming in the next few months that fit those descriptions, and several more besides.

Brad Pitt stars as an astronaut sent to track down his father, who is missing out in the far reaches of the cosmos, in this dramatic sci-fi story from THE LOST CITY OF Z filmmaker James Gray. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) disappeared while piloting a mysterious research mission into deep space. Now, years later, his son Roy (Pitt) is given the task of finding his father… and stopping whatever plan he might have put in motion while living far from Earth. [September 20]

Will Smith has made more than a few science fiction movies, from I ROBOT to MEN IN BLACK and AFTER EARTH, but GEMINI MAN takes him to a whole new dimension. That's because Smith plays two roles in this story about an aging assassin. Smith stars as Henry Brogan, an elite killer who wants to get out of the game, but finds himself hunted by a younger and equally-skilled opponent. Henry soon learns that this is his own clone, dubbed Junior. In other words, he has to battle himself in order to change his life. Junior is an all-CG recreation of a younger Will Smith, with motion capture and voice acting from Smith himself. [October 4]

Ridley Scott's standard-setting movie comes back to theaters for its 40th anniversary! ALIEN remains one of the great sci-fi movies, as it imagines a blue-collar world that just happens to be in space, with what amount to "space truckers" being diverted towards a terrible discovery. This movie is just as much horror as it is science fiction, but that's OK with us. Sci-fi explores our unknown future, and few things are as terrifying as the unanswered mysteries of the beyond. [October 13]

Terminator: Dark Fate

[Image Credit: Paramount Pictures]

Most of the previous TERMINATOR sequels are wiped away as original creator James Cameron comes back into the fold. In addition to producing, Cameron conceived the story for DARK FATE, which picks up with Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) many years after the events of T2: JUDGMENT DAY. Skynet sends a new liquid metal Terminator (Gabriel Luna) back in time to assassinate Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), who is protected by a hybrid cyborg (Mackenzie Davis. Ultimately, the new killer robot has to reckon with both Sarah Connor and her former enemy, the T-800 Terminator model played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. [November 1]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

[Image Credit: Lucasfilm / Disney]

For decades, fans have argued back and forth over whether or not STAR WARS is actually science fiction, or more like a Western in space. In the end, it doesn't matter. THE RISE OF SKYWALKER might not approach the intersection of humanity and technology like hardcore science fiction, but it does imagine a society in which all the problems of power, greed and envy are only amplified by the ability to colonize planets and travel instantly across light years of distance. Also, lightsabers are super-cool.

Color Out of Space

[Image Credit: Spectrevision]

Speaking of the blend of horror and science fiction, here's an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's story in which a seemingly harmless meteorite causes wild mutations and other unexpected consequences. This film, directed by Richard Stanley (HARDWARE, DUST DEVIL) puts the action on a family farm, with Nicolas Cage and Joely Richardson as parents of two children, who find their lives utterly changed after the otherworldly rock lands near their home. (Fans of the 1982 anthology movie CREEPSHOW might think this sounds similar to the "Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" segment. That's because it is also loosely based on the same Lovecraft story.) [Premiered September 7 in Toronto; Release Date TBA]